With all the vintage charm it can muster, the old Weston schoolhouse that sits just on the outskirts of Celina became the new performing arts haven for all ages over the summer. Originally hailing from the Pacific Northwest, owners of Anderlin Arts, Jeremy and Alicia Anderson, packed up their five kids and moved their business down to our neck of the woods. The Andersons arrived in Celina in December and found a space to put down new roots for Anderlin Arts by May.
Jeremy and Alicia originally met in the theater department of Seattle Pacific University through the SPU Players. Both having worked for multiple theaters in the Seattle area, and working with churches, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, and many others in the area, they were looking for more autonomy over their work and vision and got to thinking.
“Well, what if we kind of like, do this ourselves?” Jeremy said.
Equipped with the experience and the customers, Anderlin Arts was born in 2011. Despite the ways that Anderlin Arts has brought together their heart and passion for the theater, the Andersons each had their own journey to a life dedicated to the arts.
Alicia started theater as a “painfully shy” seven-year-old, and immediately fell head over heels. What began as a way to get her out of the box grew into a pre-med-turned-theater/history-major in college.
“That lasted a couple months; my heart was just yearning to go back to all my artistic endeavors,” Alicia said, “…it was such a hard decision to make.”
She was torn between the pursuit of a more practical field of study or following what her heart longed for.
“My mom said, ‘If God gave you this gift, and if you feel called to this, then you should do this,’” Alicia said.
The proof was in the pudding as she landed a full-time acting job before graduating college—almost unheard of in the acting world.
“I felt really blessed,” Alicia said, “My mom was super supportive; I’ve always had a job in a theater program, and now we’re doing this as our real job.”
For Jeremy, he grew up in theater and the church. His father was a pastor, and he says their church utilized the arts as a vessel for outreach and as a way to share the gospel.
“People would gather ‘round because it was before flash mobs—we were like the inventors of flash mobs,” Jeremy said. “We would come, and we would do a dance or a song or a play and people would be like, ‘What is this?’ And then when we’d share some testimonies, it was a way to kind of like bridge into people’s hearts.”
Music and theater were always prevalent for Jeremy, but when he went into high school, he was introduced to musical theater through West Side Story.
“That was like my first Broadway show, and I loved it,” Jeremy said. “I got bit by the bug at that point.”
He went on to SPU with a theater scholarship but ended up changing his major, opposite his wife, to communications and business, but he says theater was always part of his studies and mission.
“For me, the heartbeat of who I am is, ‘Leave people better than I found them,’” Jeremy said. “Wherever I go, I want to have an impact, and you get to do that so much when you’re coaching…but also working with youth and adults in a teaching capacity.”
For both Jeremy and Alicia, they founded Anderlin Arts out of a call to enrich others through a love of the arts.
“Being that person that wants to see others succeed and see them grow and see the best in them and leave people better than they found them—” Jeremy said. “That, combined with the arts…Anderlin Arts was birthed out of that.”
Seeing that the arts were often a darker field through their experience in Seattle, they sought to shine a light in the darkness.
“For us, we wanted to be a theater of hope—of light,” Jeremy said, “Something that brought a message of redemption that would talk about things that were important, but family-friendly.”
The Andersons said they knew the Northwest was no longer the right fit for their family for a while as the area has changed over the past five to 10 years. While they miss the beauty and nature of the area they grew up in, they say the ideologies and philosophies have shifted in an anti-family direction, so they looked for a change and landed in North Texas.
“There were a bunch of options, but we really felt called to this area, specifically, and we don’t know why,” Alicia said. “We don’t know; we just know it was the ‘Go.’”
Feeling called by God to come here, the Andersons say they are still waiting for that “why.”
“Honestly, it was really a step of faith,” Jeremy said. “We’re going to come here not knowing all the cards.”
Anderlin Arts, having played such a huge role in their lives and who they are, seemed to be their continued calling. They considered what they should do once they arrived and saw a hole in the arts offerings in our area. Celina quickly became their epicenter for arts’ ministry and their new home.
“It seems like it’s ripe for that…It’s the same lessons that you learn in sports that you learn in theater,” Jeremy said. “Why here is because God called us there, but I think maybe it makes sense because it’s lacking, it’s not here, so maybe we can do that and be the ones to provide it.”
Anderlin Arts is gearing up for their production of Newsies Jr. The Broadway Musical. While they are in the full swing of their fall session right now, registration for spring 2025 will be opening soon.
Anderlin Arts’ venue is located at 307 Main Street in Weston, or online at AnderlinArts.org.